I had a press conference Monday to announce that we all had just a few days, until Friday, April 16, to return forms received at our homes. The date was chosen to have some strong assurance that if we all made that deadline, the Postal Service and the Census Bureau processing centers would have enough time to receive and process the forms, deleting them from the list of addresses we will visit starting May 1.

We will continue accepting mailed-back forms after that date, but with each passing day there is less chance of deleting them from our list of nonrespondent cases to visit.

I also announced that those who haven’t received a form or who have lost their form can call 1-866-872-6868 either to get a form mailed to them or to answer the questions on the telephone. Alternatively, they could visit any of the 40,000 questionnaire assistance centers to obtain a form. Finally, there are many “be counted” displays in grocery stores, community centers, and libraries, where forms are available.

If we cannot match the address you write on these forms to one of our addresses on our master list, you may find that we visit your home to verify that we have associated your form with the correct physical location. Please be patient if our census taker asks you to repeat your answers to the questions. All of our efforts are focused on counting everyone once and only once, and in the right place.

As of today, there are just three days left to meet the April 16 deadline. But that’s not the end of the game – we’ll be following up with every non responding household with some 700,000 locally-hired temporary workers starting May 1.